


Fermata

by Zaphirite



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Finale spoilers, Hurt/Comfort, vague Love Eater spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 02:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21046634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaphirite/pseuds/Zaphirite
Summary: She just needed the world to stop for just long enough to breathe.[Vague Love Eater spoilers]





	Fermata

Even though she was so tired, she couldn’t say anything. 

She wanted to give up. She wanted to just toss everything aside because she held all the power in the world for good and it still wasn’t enough. 

And even though she wanted to give up - Marinette knew she was trapped. She couldn’t. 

Even her overwhelming emotions had to be rid of. If she stayed upset for too long, an akuma might come for her. 

It just wasn’t something she could afford. 

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. 

She wanted it to stop hurting. 

“Marinette, I have you. I’m here.”

She couldn’t say a thing and kept sobbing instead. 

Vaguely, she could feel a hand petting her head and another soothing her back. The vibrations of humming - a melody - reverberated in her body where she was pressed against Luka’s. 

Luka continued to hum and comfort her. Like he just reassured, he didn’t press for any answers. 

For this moment, he didn’t expect anything of her. 

As if a tense string had wrapped her heart tight, it snapped - and Marinette let herself fall apart. 

The song he hummed was warm and kind, inviting her in and pulling her out of the sheer weight of emotion she was drowning in. Like a light, chasing away the shadows in the corners of her mind. 

After what felt like an exhausting eternity, her tears ran dry and her throat burned. A shaky breath got caught in her chest and became a cough. 

Marinette could feel Luka turning his head down to look at her. Somehow, she felt like she couldn’t face him or anyone right now. 

“I’m going to give you some choices, just tell me which one you want to do, okay?” Luka’s gentle voice broke through the heaviness in her head. 

Marinette nodded slowly. She took a deep breath, then another one. 

“Do you want me to take you home, or do you not want to be home?”

“Not home,” she muttered into his shirt after some consideration. The last thing she wanted was her parents asking her what happened and worrying over her. 

“Do you want me to stay with you? Or is there anyone you want me to get for you?”

Her hands clutched tighter to his jacket. She felt him chuckle in response. 

“Okay, I get it. Do you want to go where it’s quiet and there’s no people?”

“Mmm,” she made a noise of agreement, then nodded when she could barely hear herself. 

Marinette just wanted to stay where they were. His comforting song and the world standing still, just once in her life. She knew they couldn’t, but- 

“Ready to walk or you need a moment?”

“I’m- I’m good. I can walk,” she managed in a raspy voice. 

Everything still felt fuzzy, like she was in a dream. Luka guided her hand to the bike basket, and once her hand gripped it he put his own on the bike handles and began to push it forward. 

Right foot. Left foot. Each step forward helped shake the numbness from her whole body. The clicking of the spokes helped time her breaths. 

When she glanced at him after some moments in silence, Marinette took in his determined expression. Just barely visible under his bangs, his brow was furrowed. His mouth was set in a line, eyes focused ahead at whatever their target was. 

He seemed to sense her gaze, his face softening as he turned his head to face her. 

“Doing ok? Need to take a break for a sec?”

(“Brave, determined, caring - why don’t you give him the miraculous?”)

Marinette shook her head. “Lead the way, I can make it.”

Her head was still swimming with all that happened, all that she didn’t know what would happen next. 

Adrien, Kagami, Master Fu, Chat, herself, even all of Paris was at stake-

They stopped briefly at some point - “I’ll be right back,” he reassured. 

He was gone for just two minutes in a shop, but the silence without his song was deafening. He returned by her side and continued pushing the bike forward. 

They ended up somewhere further along the Seine closer to the water. Luka parked his bike by a bench and gestured for her to sit. 

“Here, you must be parched.”

The cold bottle of juice suddenly in her hands made her jump. Her hands drew back, then realizing what was happening, Marinette tried to catch it again. 

Once, twice, her hands knocked it back up in the air and slipped out of her grip. 

“Gah-!” 

Her hands and one of Luka’s caught the runaway drink over her head. 

He started giggling. 

“You got it?”

“Yeah,” Marinette breathed, feeling her lips turn up to mirror his smile. 

“Cheers,” Luka held out his own bottle and they clinked them together. 

The first sip felt like heaven. She didn’t realize how sore and dry her throat was from crying. Quickly chugging the rest, Marinette took a giant gasp of air in at the end. 

Her chest still felt heavy. But she could breathe now. 

Her eyes were willing to look up again, and she took in the world around her. The feeling of the bench beneath them, the cold bottle in her hand, and the calm afternoon air. The sounds from the city became white noise from their hideaway. 

Just the two of them existed in this moment. 

Luka’s eyes were closed, his song silent as he let her pull herself back together.

She looked over to him. He must have felt her attention, finally opening his eyes. He didn’t look at her, looking out instead to the river that separated them from the rest of the world. 

“Tell you what, you don’t have to do anything right now. If you want to just sit here, we can. If you want to yell, get it all out, the Siene is listening. I’m giving you that choice.”

If he was expecting an answer then, he didn’t show it. 

“Thanks for giving me that choice,” Marinette responded instead. 

Luka moved his guitar to his lap. Marinette scooted in to face him as he began to strum. 

Softly, he strung the notes together. It was the same song he played for her earlier in the day, she remembered, but he was repeating it over and over. 

‘Still not quite right’, he described it earlier. 

“It sounds so lovely, I wish that’s what my heart sounded like right now,” Marinette lamented. 

“More like this?”

Luka began to strum again, watching her face and making small adjustments to match any reactions. Marinette could tell the notes were in the same place, the same length. Somehow it was unfamiliar at the same time. 

“I just changed the key a half step down, the song didn’t change,” Luka explained.

He had explained some music terms before at her request, even teaching her a couple chords before. Marinette tilted her head, trying to dig up that information through her current worries. 

“Here, it’s easier to explain this way: this is an A major chord, just putting my fingers on D, B, and G here.” 

Each finger pressed down on their respective strings. Luka glanced back up at her to ensure she was watching and strummed each string at a time, then all at once. 

Bright, like the sun reflecting off the gently moving water in front of them. Like the way the juice refreshed her parched throat. 

Like the way Luka met her eyes with a soft smile before he glanced back at his fingers on the neck of his instrument. 

“Now, watch how A minor is almost the same - same fingers, same strings, just a little off.”

His hand curled back slightly, letting his index finger reach higher up one of the strings and adjusted his middle and ring fingers. He picked each string slowly this time, letting the difference be heard. 

Familiar, but at the last few strings the notes sounded less bright, even more when they were strummed together. 

A lingering sadness sat in that chord compared to before. 

He continued picking at strings in that same, melancholy tone. Marinette didn’t know enough about music to really know the relation between each chord he explained and added on, but in Luka’s own way he was showing he knew she was hurting. She didn’t have to tell him a thing and yet the melody he was putting together for her almost made tears well up in her eyes again. 

Just like the time they first met. Without words, he could see right through her. 

Or maybe, he was just seeing her as she was. 

“I’m better at playing than putting it into words,” he sighed, muting the strings with his hand. “The point is, no matter what, you’re still you. You’re not being any less of yourself because you’re having a hard time. And you’ll get back to it when you’re ready.”

“What about your own song? What is your own heart’s song like?”

Luka’s calm composure broke for the briefest moment, surprised by this question. His expression softened back into a smile as he hummed in thought. 

“I’ve played it for you before. I don’t think right now is a good time for it. It’s still a work in progress, but I’ve found some inspiration lately. ” 

She’s heard it before? 

Maybe he didn’t call it his song specifically, or maybe he meant it was part of every song he plays?

Either way, it was a song she wanted to know. Even if she couldn’t play a guitar. It must be just as beautiful as his words. 

“If you say so. I'm sure it’s amazing, Luka. You’re amazing,” Marinette sighed. 

“You needed a friend. So I’m going to do the best I can for you, whatever you need from me. Just ask when you’re ready.”

“I wouldn’t even know what to ask for,” she admitted, shrugging.

“Whatever you need. You deserve all the kindness in the world, Marinette. You do so much for everyone, I think you should be treated just the same. Like a songbird with the sweetest melody I’ve ever heard. You deserve to be serenaded in return.”

Just like his words the day he became the Silencer. 

He was earnest and unashamed in every word as if they were simple facts of the world. They were his truth. 

She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks and yet she didn’t want to look away. More than anything, she wanted to melt into the warmth of those words.

She wanted to learn his own song just as well as he knew hers. 

And the noise of the world came crashing back down around them. 

Luka’s body jerked back at the sudden loud riff of a keytar - a ringtone.

She didn’t quite hear him answer the phone, wondering instead when did they lean in that close. 

His eyes widened and darted to the box at the back of his bike. Marinette’s eyes followed his, watching him unzip the top and peek inside. 

“You weren’t still working, were you?!” She exclaimed. 

“Oh, no! No. I was just bringing back some stuff on the way home for dinner. Really, it’s no problem.”

As proof, Luka pulled out a loaf of bread and a bag of vegetables. Marinette sighed in relief. 

“You know, if you still don’t want to go home yet, you’re always welcome aboard. I’m sure my family would love to have you for dinner.”

He offered her his hand one more time. 

She took that hand and pulled herself up. 

Now - she wasn’t completely drowning in a marsh of her own emotions. She had no idea what was the first step forward in the right direction. 

But she knew which direction she wanted to go in next. 

Pulling herself closer to him, she pressed her lips to his cheek, just long enough to feel his skin grow warm under hers. 

“Thanks Luka, for everything today,” she said against his cheek before pulling away. 

Marinette may not know music well, but she knew colors. The blush of his cheeks (and probably her own) was becoming her new favorite shade of red.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
